Global Briefing, Mar. 17, 2011: Broken Promises and Bad Analogies

Broken Promises — TIME’s Krista Mahr meets evacuees in Yonezawa, a city of 90,000 about 60 miles west of the Fukushima plant. There, as elsewhere in Japan, anger is brewing about the handling of the nuclear crisis.

Solidarity — A group of 130 artists plan to boycott the $800 million Guggenheim museum being built in Abu Dhabi, unless working conditions improve for workers at the site, according to the New York Times. Abu Dhabi has a history of disregarding worker rights, as TIME reported in ’09.

Bad Analogy — Over at the New Republic, Lawrence F. Kaplan urges pundits and journalists to stop comparing Libya to other conflicts (i.e. Iraq, Vietnam, Bosnia, e.t.c.) and, instead, deal with it on its own terms.

Blood Money — In a dispatch from Islamabad, Omar Waraich explains how Shari’a law helped free Raymond Davis, an American accused of killing two men in Pakistan. More on the case, here.

Arming Bahrain — TomDispatch investigates the ties between Bahrain and the Pentagon. See TIME’s pictures of the Feb. 17 crackdown on protesters in Manama.

One Term Only — Hillary Clinton told CNN that she does not want to be Secretary of State again. The Atlantic Wire weighs the reactions, from ‘sadness’ to ‘skepticism.’

A Run on Salt —Fearing the effects of radiation from Japan’s crippled nuclear plant, Chinese shoppers are scooping up bags of iodized salt, clearing shelves across the nation, notes Hillary Brenhouse on NewsFeed. The unfortunate truth: Salt won’t save you. But large doses will make you very, very sick.

In Pictures — TIME’s new photography blog, LightBox, showcases photographs of the devastation in Japan.